Recommended Posts

Skipping ahead slightly, i will save the Wild/Flyers for near the end as whatever needs written about those two teams is pretty well covered by a ton of posters in here already. Therefor next on the list are the Preds.

PRESEASON OUTLOOK Among the elite in the West for years, cracks have appeared in the foundation by way of slippage among the forwards and an aging goalie. The offseason saw the trade of Subban to free up the money to add duchene. Hopes were the talented trio Ekholm/Ellis/Josi would still perform admirably on the back end, Duchene along with a bounce back year from Forsberg would help keep them in the running for the cup.

FINAL RECORD 35-26-8 5th in the Central,8th in the Western conference. If the playoffs had started they would have had a first round matchup against the St. louis Blues.

HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR The end of the year saw the Predators peaking, Saros had taken over in net for Rinne as the full time starter, they had won six of nine (the only loss a game started by Rinne) with Saros finishing the season with back to back shutouts in a home and home against the Stars. They appeared all but certain to be a playoff team and although potentially a low seed certain to be n the conversation.

LOW POINT OF THE YEAR They muddled their way through the first third of the year, from Halloween thru November 21st they lost 8 of 9 including six in a row culminating in Rinne getting smashed by Vancouver. They looked out of sync and slow.

STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR Arvidsson was brilliant at home with 11 goals but only a meager 4 on the road. Jared Tinordi had a very strange stat, 32 PIMs on the road, but only one minor penalty for the year at home.

WHAT WENT RIGHT Roman Josi was brilliant, leading his team in total points with 65, nearly a point a game. Forsberg while not exactly killing it led the team in goals scored. Duchene was a mixed bag, not quite living up to the contract but not bad either, among the best faceoff men in the league with decent offensive numbers. Ryan Ellis was at nearly a point a game pace like his fellow blueliner Josi but he missed a chunk of time. Bonino was arguably the most underrated 3C in all of hockey. Jarnkrok was solid, Ekholm was near brilliant on the back end. Secondary scoring was a non issue, Grimaldi, Turris, Sissons, Watson, all played bottom six minutes and contributed admirably chipping in on the offense. Craig Smith overcame a glacially slow start to finish second on the team in goals scored. Saros took over as the starting goalie, outperforming Rinne giving up nearly half a goal less per game and cementing himself as the teams starter.

WHAT WENT WRONG Rinne clearly has slipped, giving up a career worst goals against average and losing his starting job. Johansen was average on his best days, and awful on his worst, appearing indifferent much of the year. Arvidsson was ineffective, then hurt and then innefective again. In spite of leading all Predator forwards in ice time, Granlund managed only a paltry 17 goals and was 12th on the team in scoring. Yannick Weber and Hamhuis as a bottom pair were pretty bad, both look to be done.

FREE AGENTS Steady as she goes Craig Smith is an UFA who they would like back, Markus Granlund will likely need a change of scenery to get his career going after going off the rails after coming over a few years ago from the Wild. Hamhuis almost certainly will retire, Weber likely wont be back.

OFFSEASON QUESTIONS Pretty much the exact same ones as last year. The offense was short, forward scoring was pretty bad and a need for top six scoring is essential. They have one more year on the contract of Rinne, will they have him back or look to find a home for him to clear cap space to find offense? They appear to be in a bit of decline but still could be relevant if things break right.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Must add that working concerts in the Midwest I work alongside a lot of Nashville based artists and roadies, and those country guys and gals love their Predators and are well versed in the game of hockey....

Recently Browsing
0 members

Most Liked Posts in This Topic

Must add that working concerts in the Midwest I work alongside a lot of Nashville based artists and roadies, and those country guys and gals love their Predators and are well versed in the game of hockey....